Urgent Prayer Request

I just received this request and hope that you all will join me in praying for this young man and his family. 

Dear Elizabeth,

Could you please pray along with our parish? We are from St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Front Royal, VA. We are praying for James Brogan, 16 year old boy who ran into a tree on his way to school last week after swerving to miss a deer. He is in critical condition and his recovery is iffy at this point. He and his family are also parishioners of St. John the Baptist.

His mother, Carey Brogan, is a wonderful person. She is an elementary school teacher and helps many students whom come from less than ideal homes. You can find her every Saturday morning with a group of those students in the front pew at Mass. She then conducts a Catechism class for them. She loves to spread devotion to Our Lady. She is also one of the CCD teachers for the First Communion students and volunteers at the Pregnancy Crisis Center. I just can't imagine what she is going through right now. Please pray for her as well (and her husband and daughters). Please spread the word and pray for this amazing family! God bless you.

Novena in Honor of Pope John Paul II

Blessed Trinity, we thank you for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II, and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care, the glory of your Son's cross, and the splendor of your Holy Spirit to shine through him. Trusting fully in your Divine mercy, and in the intercession of Mary our Immaculate Mother, he has given us aliving image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life, and the way of achieving eternal communion with you.Grant us, by his intercession, and according to your will, the graces we implore-ESPECIALLY THE FULL RECOVERY OF JAMES BROGAN-hoping that Blessed John Paul will soon be numbered among your saints. Amen.

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us!

Miss That Pink Link Box?

I so miss Google Share. That was the box on the sidebar where I could just click and instantly you'd know what great stuff I'd bumped into on the web. I can't find a good substitute. Please bear with me as I try to get Delicious to work. In the meantime, here's list to click around:

Let's Hear it for the Dads  I really love those Archbolds and I'm a big fan of dads, so this one rocks.

Design the Life You Want. "It’s true — TV and video games can be addictive. Bad food is definitely addictive. There are downward spirals wherever you look, and they lead to a passive, overweight, consumerist lifestyle. But the good stuff can be just as addictive. Healthy eaters crave healthy food. Kids who play outside every day crave sunshine and wind and trees. Readers crave books. Makers crave time to make. Artists crave time to create." Now get after it! I'm right there with you.

Jen's found a great C. S. Lewis quote.

This one is super-serious. Please pray for Scott Hahn.

Helping Yourself. Kelle Hampton has so nailed where I am right now. Makes me want to get out there and run. Oh yeah, I don't live in Florida. It's sleeting here. Think I'll lock myself in my closet with my stationary bike and headphones. Lalalalalala.

This is just way sad. And this? Oh, I so beg to differ. I think I will. 

Yum. My aunt introduced me to the most amazing gluten-free pasta. Most amazing. My aunt is 110% Italian and she's an excellent cook. Even she agreed that this was really good. Not "really good for gluten free" but really good.

Sweet Keenan. We love this girl so much. Add her to the list of homeschooled celebrities. Oh, and before she was famous, she was an illustrator for Real Learning.

Sigh. I'd love to be at craft night Dawn's.

Speaking of crafting, Mike's going to do a bit of DIY.

I am obsessed with all things Anna Maria Horner. It's crazy. And during my current knitting fast, I've been drawn to embroidery. So, this announcement makes my heart sing.

And then there's this: Colleen called. She's safely in her new home. Far away. 

And one more (well two, together). A beautiful post that made me cry. Big family love. Long married love. Brand new love. All good. All God.

Have you any good links to share?

Tell People:-)

I am up to my eyeballs in re-entry. That vacation was awesome. 

I'm thinking all kinds of things, but finding no time to write them down and share them.

There's an awful lot to do here.

Sigh.

Before I left, I read with interest this piece by Jennifer Fulwiler. She wonders why there are no Catholic bloggers on a Top 100 List. Jen's thoughts are interesting, but the comments took me to an unexpected place. It was very interesting to hear what people considered a good blog. There certainly was no consensus at all. 

What makes a blog worth returning to again and again in your opinion? Why do you read blogs and which ones are your favorites?

While we're talking about it, be sure to pop by and make sure that the blogs you love get a shout-out here, at About.com's Reader's Choice Awards. Social media is a force for change; there's no doubt about it. If we can be supportive of the people who create in this medium, we can help them grow and develop and be a blessing.

What will You be Doing on 12/21/2012?

I'm growing tired of the gloom and doom. I plan to celebrate Nicky's 12th birthday that day. Here are my thoughts on all the doomsday hoo-ha. Shouldn't we live every day like it's the last?

Pinning it Down

today's guest post is a gift from the always lovely Sarah, who, together with Pam, has come up with an awesome, sure-to-catch-on idea. Since it was Pam who sucked me in introduced me to Pinterest, I'm pretty excited to jum pon this bandwagon with them.

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Are you on Pinterest yet? You don't need me to tell you the 1,000 reasons you need to get on there, right? The visual inspiration, the overflow of ideas, the organized, systematic way of pinning those ideas onto boards that fit into your life so you easily retrieve them? Can I stop now, or would you like me to go on? ;) I've only been on Pinterest since October, but I love it. My only bone to pick so far is this: it's very easy to get into the habit of pinning a million ideas without actually doing any of them. It's one thing to pin something neat you found online- it's something totally different to step away from the screen and actually make it happen. My friend Pam recently mentioned her wish that someone start an Internet link up, a weekly show-and-tell for those of us who pin and need a little extra nudge to make some of the goodies we have saved happen in real life. I thought it was a brilliant idea! (And that's all the credit I can take. Pam came up with the idea, the name, and the super cute graphic to go along with it. I just get to hostess the first link-up and pretend like it was my idea all along). :)

We're calling our new link-up Pinning it Down, and we're co-hosting (one Tuesday at Amongst Lovely Things, the next at Everyday Snapshots). All you have to do to play along is pick something you've pinned, do it, blog a little somethin' about it, and link up. It will be fun to see some of those ideas come to life in all of our homes and on our blogs.

It doesn't have to be perfect, spectacular, or elaborate in any way. It just has to be DONE. And who among us couldn't use the satisfaction that comes from having completed a project? I don't know about you, but I think it will be very motivating to see some of those great pins fly off my screen and into my house. The first link-up is this Tuesday, January 10th over at Amongst Lovely Things. We hope to see you there! Go pick something simple from your pinboards, make it happen, and join us on Tuesday. We can't wait to see what you've been up to. (P.S. If you aren't on Pinterest, feel free to email me at amongstlovelythings [at] gmail [dot] com so I can send you an invitation. And if you have trouble registering because you don't have a facebook or twitter account, don't worry- I don't either! I created a Twitter account for the sole purpose of getting onto Pinterest, and then I promptly deleted the Twitter account. Use that option if you need it.)